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Will provide jobs that have continuity: Sisodia
The Delhi government will focus on creating market demand that in turn will create continuity in employment demand, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Sunday, elaborating on the Aam Aadmi Party administration’s roadmap to create two million jobs over the next five years
The Delhi government will focus on creating market demand that in turn will create continuity in employment demand, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Sunday, elaborating on the Aam Aadmi Party administration’s roadmap to create two million jobs over the next five years.
Sisodia, who was speaking to HT during an interview, presented the Delhi Budget 2022-23 on Saturday with employment being among its central focus areas, covering planned interventions in eight specific sectors of the city’s economy.
A majority of the targeted jobs will be in the private sector, an approach that triggered questions about how the government will ensure its plans lead to quality employment. To this, Sisodia said: “If there is demand, there will be continuity. When governments think of the job sector, they usually make policies or schemes focusing on the supply side. They focus on increasing production to create more jobs. But our understanding is that whenever the demand in the market is strengthened, then jobs have increased (and) the supply side increases by default.”
“If consumption increases, definitely more factories or stores will be set up. But if consumption or the demand alone does not increase, even the few factories that are there will start to shut down,” Sisodia said.
Sisodia and CM Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday after the Budget that the plans were made in keeping with the challenge of inflation and unemployment that was the consequence of shocks such as the pandemic, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll-out and the 2016 demonetisation.
“Delhi also has a rich trading history. So, if we ensure demand and promote trade and business, jobs will automatically increase,” he said.
Sisodia said a figure like the nearly ₹76,000 crore that was allocated for the next fiscal year’s Budget was a lofty target back in 2015 when AAP came to power. “It became possible only because we identified our top priorities and kept working on them. So, if there is intent, it (the jobs plan) can increase even further. This will be possible only if we increase consumption in the market… Promoting businesses in these sectors will generate employment and increase the per capita income, which in turn will increase consumption. Once consumption increases, the economy will thrive and the government will have better tax collection too as a by-product,” Sisodia said.
The eight sectors identified in what the government titled as Rozgar Budget are retail, food and beverages, logistics and supply chain, travel and tourism, entertainment, construction, real estate and green energy.
The party is likely to replay its budgeting experience in Punjab. The finance minister of Punjab was in the Delhi Assembly when the Delhi budget was being presented. “Punjab’s finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and I had a good discussion yesterday about how to tackle tax evasion in Punjab,” said Sisodia, adding that the two governments will learn from good practices from each other.
Calling the introduction of a Bill in Lok Sabha for the unification of the MCDs as planned without logic, Sisodia said, “even if the MCD polls are held two years later, only AAP will win”.
On the Opposition calling chief minister Arvind Kejriwal anti-Hindu for his stand on the Kashmir Files movie, Sisodia accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of using “the pain and agony of the Kashmiri Pandits” for politics and not taking steps for their rehabilitation.
“The Kashmir Files movie should be put up on YouTube if they actually want people to see it so much. All the money earned from it, reportedly they’ve earned some ₹200 crores from it, must be donated for the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits. They would do it if their intention was to uplift the community and help them but they want to mint money off their pain. Now they have earned ₹200 crores out of the movie. ₹200 crore is no small sum, now they can make the movie free for all to watch by uploading on YouTube,” Sisodia said.
